Schools of Education are emerging academic units in higher educational institutions in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations. Most of these teacher training programs are in their infancy stages. Modern day educational discourse across teacher training programs globally, including the Middle East and in the GCC, have predominantly focused on student-centered approaches to teaching and learning. This approach to teacher training is infused with critical scholarship and marks a shift away from positivist approaches to educational scholarship. Integrating critical scholarship in GCC teacher training programs brings about a number of challenges, as this approach to education is a departure from traditional cultural and social norms for schooling in the region. This multidisciplinary volume highlights some of the challenges and complexities that inevitably arise from this paradox. Professors, researchers, and specialists working in the GCC have contributed to this volume with the intent of empowering educators with authentic and contextualized research and insights to advance collective understanding of the complexities and challenges of teacher education and training in the GCC. Ultimately, this work will serve as a practical tool and resource that can be employed by schools of education to provide authentic insights, strategies, and research to further develop teacher training in the GCC and globally.

Narratives of Storytelling Across Cultures demonstrates how meaning found within interpersonal communication is not universal across all cultures. Miscommunication can occur when the foundations of cultural meaning within stories, as told socially and within media, vary among different cultures. Positioned within the communication and media field, this book connects issues of societal tension and political battles to media portrayals, social communication events, and power dynamics that result when people with different meanings systems attempt to negotiate "truth" among their competing narratives. After establishing the theoretical foundation of the book, contributors provide specific case studies that demonstrate underlying cultural components and complexities that lead to these issues. Tony R. DeMars and Gabriel Tait have assembled contributors with research, experience, and understanding of intercultural communication challenges in different social groups, allowing the book to take on a broader scope of intercultural communication. Scholars of communication, conflict resolution, political science, sociology, and media studies will find this book particularly useful.

Narratives of Storytelling Across Cultures demonstrates how meaning found within interpersonal communication is not universal across all cultures. Miscommunication can occur when the foundations of cultural meaning within stories, as told socially and within media, vary among different cultures. Positioned within the communication and media field, this book connects issues of societal tension and political battles to media portrayals, social communication events, and power dynamics that result when people with different meanings systems attempt to negotiate "truth" among their competing narratives. After establishing the theoretical foundation of the book, contributors provide specific case studies that demonstrate underlying cultural components and complexities that lead to these issues. Tony R. DeMars and Gabriel Tait have assembled contributors with research, experience, and understanding of intercultural communication challenges in different social groups, allowing the book to take on a broader scope of intercultural communication. Scholars of communication, conflict resolution, political science, sociology, and media studies will find this book particularly useful.